Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out.Luke 8:2
And from that deliverance, she became a disciple:
The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.Luke 8:1-3
She traveled with Jesus and the Twelve. She stood at the cross when others fled:
Many women were there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.Matthew 27:55-56
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.John 15:13
After witnessing his burial, she came at dawn, still grieving:
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.John 20:1
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."John 20:11-13
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,Psalm 23:4
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me.
She was seeking, not understanding. Then she heard her name:
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher).John 20:14-16
Called by name. Known intimately. Her grief transforms:
There is no fear in love,1 John 4:18
but perfect love casts out fear.
He did not let her cling to him. He sent her instead:
Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"John 20:17
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.John 20:18
Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping.Mark 16:9-10
Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more.Romans 6:9
Death no longer has dominion over him.
She sought him weeping in the darkness.
He called her by name.
And sent her to proclaim: He is risen.
A Prayer for Those Who Seek
Lord, I come in darkness, seeking.
Like Mary at the tomb, I do not understand what you are doing. I weep at what is gone. I do not know where to find you.
But she teaches me: go anyway, while it is still dark. Seek with your whole body, your whole heart. He knows your name.
Call me by name. Help me recognize you in the form I did not expect. Help me move from clinging to mission, from grief to proclamation.
Make me a witness. Let me say with her, to a world that needs to hear it: I have seen the Lord. He is risen.
Amen.
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